Few recent developments have been made with regard to slingshots despite their continued popularity for sport and leisure activity. There have been and still remain several objectives, such as the important requirement during accurate operation of a hand held slingshot to significantly minimize rotational movement of the slingshot in the operator's hand during the launching of a projectile. Another important requirement or technique to increase accuracy and performance in using the slingshot is to construct a Y-shaped handle so the upper portion of a handle grip will resist the bending moment of the extending arm portions of the overall Y-shaped handle, when the sling is drawn back to launch a projectile.
Presently available slingshots or catapults offered on the market today do not completely meet these objectives or requirements of design, construction, and operation. In regard to slingshots offered and being offered for sale, attention has been focused on other ways and means to improve their accuracy such as variations in construction and materials used for the sling portion and/or handles as well as a variety of sights. By way of example:
O. H. Curtis is his U.S. Pat. No. 225,510 illustrates a one piece wire device having arms and a handle. Various loops are formed to secure the endless elastic strap to the handle. A centrally located arrow rest is formed from a central loop of wire to guide projectiles during launching;
F. W. Pratt and B. J. Dickinson describe a toy catapult in their U.S. Pat. No. 1,072,988 in which vertically positioned coil springs are secured to the arms of the toy catapult to permit the sling to be stretched rather than using elastic material or rubber for the sling. The toy catapult also includes a looping metal handle and a looping wire sight mounted on a horizontal cross bar above the sling's trajectory;
Further developments focused on simplicity of manufacture such as W. L. Walker's sling shot in his U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,408. Walker eliminated the use of a structural frame or handle, simply using elastic members which were secured to thumb and finger stalls which were in turn inserted, over the thumb and index finger of the operator's hand; and
R. Laubly in his U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,663 discloses a slingshot which utilizes a one piece elastic element which is enclosed within a rigid handle. The solid and sturdy handle is generally constructed of a composite material requiring molding processes and assembly of various parts.
None of the foregoing inventions or others offered for sale provide for means to firmly secure the handle of the slingshot within the operator's hand to prevent rotational movement of the frame. This feature is particularly important when unequal tension is put on the elastic members when the sling is drawn back at an angle from the handle and/or frame. The resulting increased strain put on one of the arms of the frame and/or handle often results in rotational movement of the frame and/or handle in the operator's hand. There remains a need, therefore, to provide a simple and inexpensive hand held slingshot, wherein the handle is designed to be held to ably resist the bending moment of the slingshot arms, as well as to resist any overall rotational movement of the slingshot, during its use. In reaching these objectives there remains a need to provide an inexpensive and uncomplicated method of manufacture of high quality slingshots for accurate shooting.